There seems to be some debate about the best cycling route from Wynnum/Manly to Fortitude Valley. I'm about to start commuting to increase my training. Wynnum Road or Gateway/Kingsford Smith? What is the best route?

I don't know anyone who commutes in peak hour on KS Dve. It is notoriously dangerous, and is where I have come closest to being killed. Most riders I know only ride it weekends, and preferably in a pack.

Wynnum Road at least has shoulder most of its length, apart from Morningside inwards.

From Galloways Hill (see this Nearmap reference) most commuters (& probably me too tomorrow) use the footpath on the river side of the road until just past the Norman Creek bridge and turn into Laidlaw Pde, go past the citycat stop at Mobray Park then make their way over the Story Bridge to get into the city. The reason the footpath is used past Morningside is that Wynnum Rd turns into a giant carpark and there is no room (unless you filter through the traffic) for the riders on the road. If you go before/after the peak then riding on the road is a pleasure as you are likely to be able to go 50+ kph on the downhill and freak out any of the prisoners in their smokeboxes who have no idea how fast a bike can go.

The "bike lane" as such runs out just before the strip of shops prior to the Morningside railway station. Steer clear of the dooring zone for the cars illegally parked in the No Standing zone (7-9am) after the railway overpass and that strip of shops, there is always at least 2 or 3.

Oh, and if you see a big guy on a yellow/red/blue Paconi on your way in if you're riding in tomorrow, say hi as i'll be logging my 1st Strava ride.

Along with Big_Red this is my daily commute. Black spot at Morningside/Cemetery so be careful in that sectionhttp://www.strava.com/runs/20545505Oh and if you see someone in high vis and Hump pack - thats me.

Greats tips I will definitely stay off Kingsford Smith. I was recommended to cut across Muarrie sports grounds, go over the Gateway and down on Kingsford Smith then, onto the foot path and in to the Valley. Wynnum road it is!!!

Morningside to that footpath section makes me nervous. Fortunately I will commute in to arrive at work around 6:40 for a 7:00 am start so I should avoid the bumper to bumper stuff.

At what point past the Norman Creek Bridge do you do you cross over to the river side footpath?

In terms of the Bayside end. What is the safest ride out of Manly Road and Wynnum Road?

manlyman wrote:Greats tips I will definitely stay off Kingsford Smith. I was recommended to cut across Muarrie sports grounds, go over the Gateway and down on Kingsford Smith then, onto the foot path and in to the Valley. Wynnum road it is!!!

Morningside to that footpath section makes me nervous. Fortunately I will commute in to arrive at work around 6:40 for a 7:00 am start so I should avoid the bumper to bumper stuff.

At what point past the Norman Creek Bridge do you do you cross over to the river side footpath?

In terms of the Bayside end. What is the safest ride out of Manly Road and Wynnum Road?

Going across the Murarrie sports field to get to Queensport Rd (sth) then to the Gateway is a good way to go if you are wanting to get to the northside, up and over the Gateway is a hoot. Avoid using Murarrie Rd (from the Wynnum Rd end) as it does not have a verge and is full of road debris with a lot of heavy vehicles (dump trucks/semis) using it. Aiming to do a ride from where i live (Tingalpa) to Sandgate ~70km rtn via the bridge once i nut out how to get to the path from the Gateway Bridge to the Boondall Wetlands.

If the road is not too busy use it rather than the footpath - i have post peak with no problems, but make sure you absolutely take the lane. Even at 6am that section can be full of cars though. Just be sensible on the footpath - while 30+ kph is easy to do downhill keep you eyes open for peds and other things and be ready on the brakes. The time of morning you are likely to do the commute you may have cars backing out of driveways, but i've never, ever seen any in the mornings i ride in, but that is after 7.30.

Cross to the footpath way before the Norman Creek Bridge at the top of the hill (cnr Hawthorne Rd) where the service station is.

I'd say Manly Rd is safest from the bayside, but Wynnum Rd would be ok too even though it is 80kph from just after Wynnum Plaza. Both roads are nice & wide. Manly Rd has some stretches of "bike lanes" but they tend to cut out in weird spots.

KS Drive is more dangerous than Wynnum Rd due to very high level of heavy vehicles, many of the drivers enshrined in an anti-lycra mindset, and a lot of impatient cbd-airport traffic. The shoulder disappears suddenly in several sections as well.

Actually on second thoughts what about Manly Rd, Wynnum Rd, left into Creek Rd, right into Richmond into Waminda St follow through Bennetts Rd and from Bennetts Rd cut across onto Railway Pde in Norman Park then onto Norman Avenue to get across those lights onto the river side of Wynnum Road. Norman Road as a bike lane????

Manlyman, don't do Richmond Rd, it is a hilly piece of hard work, Wynnum Rd is fine till Morningside and i've never had anyone force me into the gutter next to Belmont cemetery at all, but if you want to take it easy for the first ride in, use the service road that hugs the boundary of the cemetery - i promise none of the "residents" there will disturb your ride unless it is a zombie apocalypse on the day you ride in. I see quite a few cyclists use it in lieu of the road, but i just tend to take the lane on the road there as traffic is usually slow and there is a 2nd lane for the cagers to use to go around you so that they can get to their next bottleneck quicker.

Nowdays i avoid the strip of shops at Morningside (and the giant dooring zone/carparks/traffic lights) by going behind them at Abinger St, then popping back out onto Wynnum Rd at Redfern St when i'm inbound. Returning from the city i tend to do a longer ride by going down Hawthorne Rd or Riding Rd (bear in mind that Hawthorne Rd and Riding Rd are giant potential dooring zones, but there are stacks of female joggers to look at in the arvo as a consolation) then scooting along Lytton Rd and cutting through what used to be the old stockyards at Murarrie, then rejoining Wynnum Rd via Creek Rd or going along Murarrie Rd till i get to the Murarrie sportsground and doing a half lap on the crit track depending on how much time i have. If you go from Lytton Rd down past the Cannon Hill train station at Barrack Rd, you can pick up a segment on strava too whilst heading home along Wynnum Rd till the Gateway overpass.

I'll be testing my speed on the mtb tomorrow to see how i fare on strava vs using my roadie. I want to do a 60kph+ max on it if i can.

edit: PawPaw, thanks for the mapmyride link, methinks i need to do it in the daytime first though

Last edited by Big_Red on Wed Sep 05, 2012 2:45 pm, edited 2 times in total.

I hope not! Maybe only twice a week I use KSD as an extended loop.There's an entire section of road outbound that has dropped leaving an edge that has caught out two cyclists that I know of.In saying that I still use it, but the state of the road has deteriorated.

Dimma wrote:I ride on both Wynnum & KSD, at varying times of the day. As stated previosly there is no shoulder on sections of KSD, plus the condition of the road surface seems to get worse every time I ride it.

I ride KSD regularly, in both directions as far as Nudgee Road. The surface is no worse than it ever has been on this section, which is by the way the tightest part along the river bank. Significantly I have noticed a drop in traffic volumes along here since Airport Link opened.

Less regularly I continue beyond Nudgee Road and across the Gateway Bridge to Wynnum, Manly and Lota, or through Pinkenba and around the airport perimeter. There have been some issues with the roadworks in this section, is this what you are referring too?

Thanks for the advice guys. A special big thanks to Big_Red for his detailed reply - your extended route home sounds like a nice ride at the end of the day. I'll have to check out the yummy mummies on ridding rd. The ride on Richmond rd would build fitness and I thought it would avoid the traffic with the use of bike lanes - but I will check out your rat runs at Morningside. With the service road at the cemetery is the entry sand exit in wynnum rd?

P.S have you heard the Belmont cemetery is the dead centre of Brisbane? I'm dying to go for a ride there!

Cheers Crawf, your the best mate - that helps heaps. I'm going to follow your path to the bridge. Your route even shows me where to cut across onto the river side of Wynnum Road. I down loaded the strava app too.

Hi guys, after all your very helpful advice I have ridden in a couple of times and have found what I believe to be the easiest and safest route. I would be interested in what you guys think?

From the Bayside end out of the choices of Manly, Wondal and Wynnum Rds - Wynnum road is by far the best. It has a wide bike lane and you escape hooning bogans cutting you onto the gravel. On the way back to the Bayside it is easier to turn left down Wynnum Road than cross over a lane to go straight down Manly Road.

When approaching Morning side: After the train bridge try to cut right turning lane to go onto Junction road then first left into Kates St. You avoid all the crap of Morningside shops and have a nice few rolling hills to enjoy! If you fail to have a safe gap to get into the right hand turning lane on Wynnum Road into Junction Road, go a bit further up and use the pedestrian lights to go up Burrai St, go up Pashen St, left into Ridding Road, fist right into Dutton St and left into Hawthorne Rd. This lead straight onto the bike path on the river side of Wynnum Road....straight into the Valley and into work!

Coming back go the same way but turn off Burrai St east onto Wynnum Road.

Good to hear that you are getting into it and have found some streets that you like to ride on, and are comfortable travelling on. Often just getting out there is half the battle when you start out. My strava route to town is usually like this: http://app.strava.com/rides/22232492 .

Felt rather flat today for my commute, which might have something to do with the ride to Mt Gravatt Mountain i went hard on, on Saturday afternoon, which was a smidgen over 35km all up. Surprising (not really) to see so many other cyclists on MGM, certainly more that i saw when i used to do it in my 20's. Fun ride.

I do KS most days, it's busy but I don't think it's worse then other roads, at least you don't have to worry about doors. You just need to be confident in heavy traffic and don't be afraid to hold your line.